Painted Masks
by mintmm
Summary: The Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady take food to people who need it. But who's under the mask and paint?


**AN: Sort of a Halloween fic… It wasn't what I originally planned for my ATLA Halloween, but it will do. Has masks and secret identities, anyway. (Original idea involved a festival with masks since I don't think they celebrate Halloween in the Avatar universe.)**

**Anyway Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**EDIT: I was reading through this and realized that there were a few mistakes (i.e. missing words) so I deleted the story, fixed the mistakes I found, and reposted it.**

The Blue Spirit waited in the shadows for her. They met in the same place every night before silently agreeing on where to go.

The Blue Spirit stiffened when he heard someone approach, but he relaxed when he saw who it was. The Painted Lady. He'd been meeting with her for a fortnight, though they hadn't spoken a single word and he had no idea who was hiding under the hat and makeup. She was holding a basket of food, presumably for whoever they were going to help. She motioned with her chin for him to follow and the Blue Spirit did. He trusted her, which surprised him.

The Blue Spirit had noticed the woman roaming small villages around the Fire Nation capital, but it had only been two weeks since they began working together. This had come about when she attacked him outside one of the houses he was leaving food for. The fight was short and it hadn't taken her long to realize he was giving rather than taking. After that they started going around together by unspoken consent.

It didn't bother the Blue Spirit that she didn't talk since he didn't either. He just assumed that, like him, the Painted Lady wanted to keep her identity a secret. He didn't really understand how they communicated so well, though. It was just strange.

The Painted Lady led him down a long road, to one of the smallest villages on the island. She stopped outside one house and handed him the basket before disappearing through the door. There was a flare of blue light and she came back out the door.

The Painted Lady waved her and for him to follow. It occurred to him that communication would be better if they spoke, but he was worried she might recognize his voice. Still, it would be nice to know where they were going.

* * *

The Painted Lady led the Blue Spirit down the main road. She'd done her research and knew who needed food or healing, but no amount of research told her who her companion was.

She had to admit that she was curious. Who wouldn't be? Still she wasn't going to demand to know. He had a right to his privacy. And she had a right to hers.

So the she glided down the road, stopping at various homes on the way. It wasn't more than an hour before they reached the end and had to turn around and head back to the capital.

Tonight was the last night the Painted Lady could do this. In the morning she was leaving for Ba Sing Se, where she would try to get out at night, but she wasn't sure she was because of this that she decided she had to know the Blue Spirit's identity, despite what she'd thought previously.

So when they reached the Fire Nation capital, she stopped; so did he. The Painted Lady hesitated. Did she really want to violate his privacy like this? She did, and it was unlikely that she would ever see him again anyway.

She put out her hand and swiftly knocked away the mask. She gasped when she saw the scarred face underneath. He was scowling and looked like he was about to say something, but she beat him to it.

"Zuko?" she said in astonishment.

The Fire Lord's face mirrored hers."Katara? You're the Painted Lady?"

Katara pulled her hat off. "Me? You're the Blue Spirit! And you never told us."

Zuko shrugged. "Aang knows. And it isn't like you ever told anyone about this."

"Well, Aang, Toph, and Sokka know that I dressed up as the Painted Lady once, but not recently," Katara replied. "Why do you even do this? As Fire Lord you should be able to feed people without sneaking around in a mask."

"The councilmen don't think the Fire Lord's money should be spent on insignificant peasants." Zuko sighed. "So I have to do it in secret. Why do you do this?"

"I won't turn my back on people who need me. These people need me. They don't have food and they're sick." She made a face. "No thanks to your councilmen."

Zuko shrugged again. "I don't make final decisions half the time. The councilmen are in charge of the vote. To them, these people are insignificant."

"Of course they are," Katara muttered. "Anyone without status is in the eyes of those pompous jerks."

"Right. So why did you take my mask off anyway? You've never been concerned with it before."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving tomorrow, remember? Before I left I wanted to know who's been doing this with me for the past couple of weeks, even if it wasn't my business."

"Curiosity killed the moose-lion." Zuko smiled. "I need to go. I'll see you before you leave in the morning." He turned and walked toward the palace, putting his mask on as he went.

"See you," Katara murmured.


End file.
